Muzzy Izzet - Legend 2

[StanSP]

No Muzzy for the Masters Grand Final. Hasn't turned up or something

"Caught in traffic" apparently.

He's just busy reading all the love for him in the Interview thread

[haraven]

Muzzy Muzzy Muzzy! Legend!

Thanks for posting.

[AyewJoking]

I know, the likes of Gerrard and Carragher and that as you mentioned but I mean like starting from now if you get me.

Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kalo Toure all at better clubs and moved to Manchester City for the money. Ecspecially Barry who was an idol at Villa after playing what something like 300+ games.

Loyalty isn't what it used to be and money talks, unless you support the club you play for and stick by them even when they don't win the trophey you really want like Steven Gerrard who is my hero...

What about the time Gerrard strung Chelsea along until Liverpool caved in to up his wages?

[carterfox90]

one of our best midfielders to wear the shirt legend

[The Doctor]

What about the time Gerrard strung Chelsea along until Liverpool caved in to up his wages?

journalistic license. gerrard just wanted a bit more moneys in his paypacket so had a look at chelsea to scare liverpool. nowhere near as big as made out

[dogadug]

a true LCFC legend

[davieG]

Published on the Merc Blue Army Website by Fez - aka David Bevan - http://www.thebluearmy.co.uk/bevanblog/player-bandy-legged-kid-turned/article-2541832-detail/article.html

What a player that bandy-legged kid turned out to be

Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 11:55

​March 1996. Transfer deadline day. Martin O’Neill is attempting to rejuvenate Leicester City’s stuttering play-off bid. Ceefax is giving me names but failing to give me hope. Julian Watts arrives from Sheffield Wednesday for £210,000. Oh, and some kid I’ve never heard of is signed on loan from Chelsea. Frustrating.

I ended up wishing I was that kid, having that kid’s name on the back of my shirt and, eventually, realising that kid is my favourite footballer ever.

Muzzy Izzet made his debut in an infamous home defeat to Sheffield United, during which our beloved O’Neill was castigated by supporters who would grow to worship him. I joined in with the tongue-in-cheek chant of “O’Neill out, Mustafa in” from the top row of the old Carling Stand at Filbert Street as this bandy-legged kid jinked down the nearside touchline. He looked fairly handy, but nobody could have predicted that Izzet’s City career would reach such glorious heights.

The highlights in brief: scoring the winner on the last day that season at Watford to send us into the play-offs; winning the penalty that drew us level at Wembley and celebrating promotion before signing permanently in the summer; winning the League Cup twice and playing in Europe; finally, facing Brazil in a World Cup semi-final representing the nation of his father’s birth, Turkey.

Izzet forged a formidable partnership with Neil Lennon and Robbie Savage in the City midfield. While Lennon was essentially a better, more important player and Savage made life horrendous for his opponents, Izzet was initially the flashy one of the trio. He flicked and tricked his way past defenders and chipped in with crucial goals as City often held their own against Vieira and Petit when Arsenal came to town, or Keane and Scholes when it was Manchester United’s turn.

The O’Neill era is well-documented, but what truly confirmed Izzet’s place in the hearts of City fans was the way he stuck around after it all went horribly wrong. The post-Peter Taylor years, if you will.

Micky Adams hauled City back to the promised land at the first attempt in a controversial season that most will remember for administration. Personally, I choose not to remember it for that. I prefer to recall a magnificent goal that Izzet scored at Grimsby.

Not the most illustrious opponents nor the most impressive venue, I grant you, but arguably the best goal ever scored by a Leicester City player. Andy Impey dug a cross out and Izzet launched an overhead kick into the roof of the net from the edge of the box. Leicester players just don’t score goals like that. But Izzet did.

We both got something out of it. He helped us achieve great things. We turned him from a skinny Chelsea youth player into a World Cup semi-finalist. Izzet left for Birmingham City when we were relegated back to the second tier in 2004, after eight great years with the club.

Not the greatest footballer ever, not the most famous and not the most successful, but definitely my favourite.

[davieG]

Leicester City: Muzzy Izzet's journey from reserves to the World Cup

By Leicester Mercury  |  Posted: June 30, 2014

• 
  When Muzzy Izzet arrived at Filbert Street in 1996, he was used to playing in front of tiny crowds for Chelsea reserves at their Kingstonian ground.

By the time he left Leicester City, he had appeared for Turkey in a WorldCup semi-final against Brazil.

Muzzy charted this amazing journey in a conversation with City's official club historian, John Hutchinson.

muzzy says: "I was playing well for Chelsea reserves at Kingstonian but not getting a chance in the first team.

"I told manager Glenn Hoddle that it was maybe time to move. A week later he told me that Leicester wanted me on loan.

"The strange thing was I had no idea Martin O'Neill was looking at me. I didn't even meet him until I started training.

"He told me he'd been watching me for a couple of years (he lived just around the corner) and I was the type of player he needed.

"I didn't know who Martin O'Neill was to be perfectly honest. I didn't know much about Leicester either.

"When I made my Leicester debut against Sheffield United (an infamous home defeat, when the crowd turned on O'Neill) I felt it was the biggest day of my life, because it was the day when I actually felt I'd become a professional footballer.

"For the first time I was playing in front of a big crowd. Even though they weren't happy, I tried to enjoy it.

"After that bad result, Leicester started churning out results and we sneaked into the play-offs.

"That's how crazy football is. Two-and-half months after I'd been playing in front of two men and a dog, I'm playing against Crystal Palace in front of 80,000 at Wembley. Bonkers! It was another great day.

"You get out what you put into football. After two-and-a-half years as a pro at Chelsea and two years as a YTS player, with all the knockdowns, you think, 'You know what? It was worth all that because I'm playing at Wembley Stadium'.

"What really stood out for me was arriving at the stadium with all the fans everywhere and seeing a sea of blue. Everyone was happy because we had a good chance of getting into the Premier League. It was a joyous day to be part of.

"I was really looking forward to walking out with the team. It was nerve-wracking.

"People forget that as youngsters you'd dream of playing at Wembley, and living out your dream was the best ever."

City famously won that play-off final, with Steve Claridge scoring his 'shinned' winning goal four seconds from the end of extra-time.

Muzzy says: "When we got into the Premier League, we had a lot of players coming from the same sort of background as myself, where things had not quite worked out at their other clubs.

"This formed a bond between us. We won together and we lost together. We became very close on the pitch. The manager fed confidence into us and a will to win.

"Me and Neil (Lennon) got on really well together, on and off the pitch. We complemented each other.

"His job was to break things up and start off play, which he did fantastically well.

"My job was to get forward and try to create and score goals, so we worked well together. It was a fantastic time.

"Other players slotted straight in when they came. They were a breed of footballers that are not about as much now.

"Coming through the system like we did, through the YTS on £29.50 a week and cleaning boots, kept us all grounded.

"We were all working-class lads who didn't have it easy. We had to work really hard to get what we got and it showed."

Muzzy also recalled the first of his two League Cup wins with Leicester.

Muzzy says: "Emile's goal in the last minute at Wembley kept us in it.

"We were really up for it at the Hillsborough replay. We just knew that if we could stop Juninho, which Pontus (Kaamark) did brilliantly in both games, we'd win that game.

"You get that feeling sometimes. What was really good was that when we had to go to get the trophy, we had to walk right into the crowd... a great day!

"It was a shame when Martin (O'Neill) left because we were on the verge of becoming a top-six club.

"We had good players coming in. I thought, for the sake of another year, just think what we could have achieved!

"After Peter Taylor came in we went to the top of the Premier League but we were riding our luck and nicking results.

"I thought at the time we can't carry on like this, and eventually the wheels fell off after the Wycombe result.

"When Peter Taylor came in – and I've nothing against him because he was a nice bloke and did good coaching sessions – he took the heart out of the team.

"He released players who were the backbone of the team like Steve Walsh, Tony Cottee, Lennon, Garry Parker and Ian Marshall.

"New players came in with a different mentality. It just didn't work."

Muzzy then spoke about his appearance in the 2002 World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan.

Muzzy says: "Obviously I wanted to play for England. I was born in England.

"I class myself as English, but my father is Turkish. My first choice would have been to play for England. The manager at the time when I was being suggested for the England squad was Kevin Keegan.

"I felt I was playing well enough to get a chance to get in the squad. Whether I would be playing or not was another matter.

"At that time there was Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, and they were all at their best.

"I had had an offer to play for Turkey, so my agent had a word with Keegan and he said I might get into the squad but that I was not someone who would necessarily play.

"So I thought maybe playing for Turkey would be the best scenario for me, as I had got more chance of playing international football.

"A lot was made of me having to do Turkish National Service in the army, but the Turkish authorities said at the outset that I wouldn't have to do this.

"It was just that I had to get a Turkish passport and anyone who has a Turkish passport has by law to do two years National Service.

"However, because I was never going to live in Turkey, but just represent the national team, they waived this."

Muzzy recalled his time with the Turkish World Cup squad.

Muzzy says: "It was very hard. I don't speak Turkish and I got really homesick. It wasn't just about being at the World Cup Finals in South Korea.

"Because we got through to the semi-finals, against Brazil, I was away for about nine weeks.

"I went to Turkey for a week to a training camp. Then we had two weeks in Hong Kong to acclimatise. From there we went to South Korea.

"When we left Korea we went back to Turkey. I had just had my first child. Because I didn't speak Turkish, I found it difficult to communicate with the manager, the coaching staff and most of the players.

"I spent a lot of time in my room and I was getting fed up not getting into the team.

"However, I tried my best to enjoy the tournament because it was the World Cup.

"I came on in the semi-final against Brazil and that was anunforgettable experience."

 

 

Pictures Here :-
Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-City-Muzzy-Izzet-s-journe-reserves/story-21307994-detail/story.html?#ixzz3672Gyvqq
Read more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-City-Muzzy-Izzet-s-journe-reserves/story-21307994-detail/story.html?#sGTqddQEVyKGIaH1.99

[lgfualol]

Will never forgot Muzzy.

[StanSP]

.

 

All he has to say about Peter Taylor was that he did good coaching sessions .

 

I wish he stayed with us longer but understand why he moved. Will remain as my one of my favourite Leicester players ever for years to come.

[Vlad the Fox]

This is so true.

"It was a shame when Martin (O'Neill) left because we were on the verge of becoming a top-six club.

I really felt we were on the verge of something great. ****ing john barnes.

[Fox92]

His overhead kick at Grimsby is still the greatest goal I've seen live.

 

"Will you be trying that again?"

"No I nearly broke my neck"

[UpTheLeagueFox]

Muzzy is the most skilful player I've ever seen play for us. Lovely, humble guy too.

[Tom17LCFC]

my first love.

[Collymore]

one of the nicest blokes I've ever met.

[Bayfox]

After the original tommy Wright. Muzzy was an absolute hero to me.

Everything he says is correct. Him and lenny bossed that division even giving keane and scholes, viera and petit a game.

MON going and the short lived heskey/collymore partnership we were in such a good place.

Then tatter peeler (who was clearly a good coach) whisper it I know. Just ****ed our club from top to bottom.

Muzzy I love you

[taffyfox]

I named my first car muzzy!!! f***ing loved him!

[Banks]

Remember seeing him at Watford away either the 3-0 this season or the Play-off Deeney game.

[benpicko]

We wont get a player who plays for us for 8yrs again for a long while.

Andy King is either there already or about there

[davieG]

Gary Silke's Leicester City fanzone: Muzzy Izzet on life at Chelsea, La Manga and O'Neill reign

By Leicester Mercury  |  Posted: July 17, 2015

 

Muzzy Izzet after scoring for City

 

 Comments (0)

Last week we were lucky enough to get an hour with Muzzy Izzet, who gave us a cracking interview for the Fox Summer Special.

He is currently working with Steve Walsh at a BTEC level three football academy in Whetstone.

We ask if the pupils say: "My dad saw you play…"

"Yes, you get a lot of that," replies Izzet. "They bring stuff in for me to sign for their dads.

 

"The 16 and 17-year-olds sort of know who you are but didn't really see you play. Their nans and grandads saw Walshy play." That is funny, until you realise that it is also true.

Although Izzet went on to become one of City's all-time most talented players in that great Martin O'Neill side of the late 1990s, he described his frustration at getting started.

"I had been in the Chelsea squad a number of times and on the bench a few times," he says.

"Then there was a game against West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Someone got injured and I really should have gone on, but Glen Hoddle put someone else on instead.

"I sat there thinking, 'This doesn't seem right to me. I need to get on elsewhere'.

"I had a chat a few days later about wanting to go out on loan and that's how I ended up at Leicester."

Neither Izzet, or Leicester, ever looked back. While still a loan player, his first goal for the club at Watford put City into the play-offs, which saw them beat Crystal Palace at Wembley for a place in the Premier League.

"Well, that's mad isn't it?" he says. "I always say to kids 'you never know what is going to happen in football'.

"I was playing for Chelsea reserves in front of one man and his dog.

"Four months later I'm at Wembley playing in front of 80,000. It was crazy."

Izzet was then a fixture in the midfield as City won two League Cups, qualified for Europe and finished in the top half of the Premier League.

It wasn't all plain sailing however, as Izzet recalls the first trip to La Manga.

"It's fair to say Martin wasn't very pleased," he says. "There was a meeting called at the Sketchley Grange Hotel and there was Martin waiting for us.

"I'll never forget, he had a copy of the Mercury folded under his arm. We all went into a boardroom and he ripped into us.

"We'd let ourselves down, we'd let the club down, we'd let the fans down…

"It wasn't a highlight of my playing career, I can assure you. Stan (Collymore, who let off a fire extinguisher) stood up and put his hands up to it and apologised.

"Then that was it, Martin said let's move on, and then we wanted to do well for him even more."

Muzzy: My Story will be out in early September.

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Gary-Silke-s-Leicester-City-fanzone-Muzzy-Izzet/story-26915619-detail/story.html#ixzz3g8jAA2eV 

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